The United Kingdom has provided military aid worth 200 million British pounds to Ukraine, the defense minister said, confirming that Britain would send a “small number” of Stormer missiles to Ukraine and offer the deployment of Challenger 2 tanks in Poland.
In a statement to lawmakers, Ben Wallace said that the gifts of weapons from Britain could eventually amount to £ 500 million and said that 15,000 Russian soldiers had died since the invasion on 24 February.
“We have provided aid of £ 200 million, which we propose to increase to £ 500 million for Ukraine,” Wallace told the House of Commons. The replacement of the equipment will be paid for by the Ministry of Finance on an “old for new” basis, the minister said.
The aim of British military support should be to help Ukraine “choose where it wants to settle for peace,” Wallace said, but added that he said Russia should be forced to leave the country, back to its 2014 border. .
“I want Putin not only beyond the borders before February. “He invaded Crimea illegally, he invaded Donetsk illegally, and he must abide by international law and leave Ukraine in the long run,” Wallace said.
It was also announced Monday night that the United Kingdom will send 22 new ambulances to Ukraine and has already sent more than 40 fire trucks.
Britain is also one of Europe’s largest arms suppliers to Ukraine, depleting its stockpile of weapons to support the supply of Kyiv’s troops. But its supplies are lower than those of the United States, which provided $ 3.7 billion in military aid since Russia’s invasion.
Stormer armored vehicles carry Starstreak laser-guided anti-aircraft missiles and are designed to pose a threat to moving Russian aircraft and helicopters.
As for the tanks, Wallace’s language suggested confirming the plans first outlined by Boris Johnson on Friday, when he said the UK was “considering” sending a British Challenger 2 to Poland so that Warsaw could sent to Ukraine more T-72 tanks, Russian design used by its armed forces.
Wallace told lawmakers: “We are also proposing the deployment of British Challenger tanks in Poland to bridge the gap between Poland, which donates tanks to Ukraine, and their deputy, who is arriving from a third country.
Poland expects to receive the first of 250 U.S.-made Abrams tanks later this year, but is ready to send more of its T-72 arsenal to Ukraine if the United Kingdom and other Western countries show up and provide reinforcements now.
Earlier this month, it was suggested that Poland could donate 100 T-72s to its neighbor, and there were some reports that some of the Soviet-designed vehicles had already been secretly shipped.
Wallace said the UK was considering supplying Brimstone surface-to-air missiles that could be used to defend Odessa against any naval invasion, but he ruled out giving Britain British artillery AS90 from Kyiv.
Since the beginning of the year, the United Kingdom has delivered 5,361 NLAW anti-tank bazookas, more than 200 US Javelin missiles and 104 high-speed and other low-speed Starstreak anti-tank weapons, Wallace said.
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